Mariko is sitting on the apartment balcony with her notebook, diligently writing out her thoughts for the day. She doesn't really feel like it, she's got a bad cold and would sooner lie in bed being brought miso soup at regular intervals, but she knows she'll feel better if she sorts out her thoughts even if those thoughts are mostly that she hates being sick, and wishes she could assign the part of herself that wants to do things literally every day come what may to her immune system its own body to do this for her.

"Let's be practical for a moment," Kyoya says, "You have four options. The first is to try to avoid coming to the attention of the magical community. To do this with any chance of success, you would need to move to a remote location and remain there. If you are happy to live in Canada, this becomes easier but you would still need to avoid major centers of commerce. The second option is to be public with the truth. I would advice against this, for a number of reasons, one of which is that there is a small group of people who will likely think the best response is to simply eliminate you. The third option is to be selective with your truth telling. Let a few influential people in on the secret, leave everyone else to wonder. If you approach this carefully, it should be possible without significantly endangering you and eventually enough time will pass and you will be known enough that the secret is less volatile. The fourth option is, as you said, a really good excuse. There are likely to be ones more plausible than your being a fashion designer in the making, but that depends on your skillset."

"She likes to move in really cosmopolitan circles. Last week she invited six Korean expats over and I think they believed they were attending a wedding, they had that little mutual ability to communicate. I think you'd bore her after five minutes."